1938-11-18 Fred Apostoli w rsc 8 (15) Young Corbett 111, Madison Square Garden, Manhattan, NYC, New York, USA - NY]. Referee: Eddie Joseph. Having quickly solved the challenger’s southpaw style, by the third round Apostoli (159) was hammering his man to the body and generally working him over. With this one never going to go the distance it came as no surprise when the referee stepped in to save Corbett from taking further punishment at 1.21 of the eighth round. Prior to the referee stepping in, Corbett (159½) had been decked twice in the seventh and again in the eighth when he collapsed in a neutral corner following a savage assault.

It was announced at the end of the first week of August 1939 that Apostoli would be defending his title against Ceferino Garcia. While Apostoli had taken part in seven non-title contests, losing to Billy Conn twice, Garcia had had only moved up to middleweight at the start of the year after failing to relieve Henry Armstrong of the welterweight crown. Garcia certainly warranted his opportunity, having beaten Lloyd Marshall (twice), Walter Woods and Bobby Pacho (twice) to become the leading contender.

Nate Bolden, who had recently outpointed the future champion, Tony Zale, went on to beat Oscar Rankins (w pts 12 at the White City Arena, Chicago, Illinois on 14 April 1939) in a contest billed for the ‘black’ title. It is not clear whether Bolden made any defences, but after being outpointed over ten rounds by Charley Burley at the Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on 12 February 1940 any claim he might have had would have been meaningless.